Thoughts on the creative process, quilting, fabrics, and living life in the Southern U.S.A.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Bordering on a decision...

The shoulder was feeling good this morning so I decided to put aside the Halloween quilt for a day and get back to putting borders on a couple of quilt-tops that were soooo close to being finished.Now I don't know about you but borders are a huge decision point for me...and for decision point read "repeatedly pull fabric from the stash, audition in various rooms, go get coffee, take a photo, drink more coffee, email a friend, drink coffee, call friend who hasn't responded to email, when call goes to messaging get more coffee and decide to move onto next quilttop." Oh dear is right!I think Borders are major design elements of a quilt. Unfortunately the decision I make when the quilt is in the planning stage and what I end up doing are usually two very different things. I have put some "I just want this quilt to be finished" borders on before and regretted it so now I take it seriously...even if it means right now there is a "almost" quilt top on the dining-room table, the kitchen table, the ironing board and the couch. Ya, I have a lot of decisions to make....Quilt number one is from a Material Obsession book (I've loaned them to a friend so I don't know which one, sorry!) Anyway, I've put on the red paisley and a blue stripe (stripe not in photo above!) Like it so far... Originally I was going to use this green, blue and pink large floral. Now I'm not so sure. (This whole quilt has been way outside my comfort zone! good for me but lots of coffee and chocolate and fingernails....)I've auditioned lots from the fabric stash and am now leaning towards this blue...am I coping out and going back to my comfortable place?

The second almost quilt-top is my Jacob's Ladder. (BTW last time I worked on this the History Channel ran a story on the history of Jacob's Ladder! And who says you can't learn anything from TV!) Back to this quilt....I pieced some triangles for the boarder and picked out a fabric with roses for the outer border. Good so far. For this I am now struggling with four options...

I'm totally with mckie2 on this! Definitely the big flower border on the first quilt....it's fabulous! And it's out of my comfort zone, too, but seeing it....it just looks GOOD! And the green to green triangles is really great! Love that little green check! Sweet!

I really like the blue. It frames it well and adds to the overall color effect. The Jacob's ladder, I can't tell without seeing the entire quilt. Maybe more of a contrast between the blocks and triangle units. Something soft like peach or cream perhaps. Tough decision, time for more chocolate!

Decisions, Decisions!!! With quilt No.1, I would go with the darker blue, as it frames the quilt nicely!With quilt No. 2, I would with option #2. The green triangles towards the red and the red triangles towards the green. I can see your brain is starting to hurt LOL! Look at them again with fresh eyes tomorrow! You will make the right decision!!!

I like the floral border for the first quilt - looks more fun that way and suits the centre. I like option 3 for the second top, not sure why, but when I first saw it, it just worked for me. When I re-looked at options 1-4, I liked most of them, but 3 was still my favourite. Good luck making your mind up!

I love the green blue pink floral on the first one! And it took me a while to pick between 2 and 4 but I finally like 4 best for the contrast in value and the texture. Love it!!Can't wait to see them done!

Well, I'm not sure you were inviting voting, but I like option #4 on the Jacob's ladder quilt! I LOVE all your scrappy UFO's!! Borders are hard for me, too...I try to plan a border before I finish the inside of the quilt, because I am WAY too tempted to do something slick and quick just to be done, and I am ALWAYS disappointed when I do that! Once you have a good decision-making day, you are going to have a pile of beautiful tops finished...then you will have to make MORE decisions...about backings and quilting!! LOL!

As long as we are voting--I'll give my two-cents worth. On the first quilt I agree that the floral border matches the colors in the quilt well, but I also think it competes with the body of the quilt and pulls the eye away from it. I like my borders to frame and compliment the quilt, but not call attention to itself.As to the second one--I like 2 & 4 the best, with 4 getting my final vote!I love both of these scrappy quilts!

Wow, that is a lot of choices! On the material obsession one, I say go for the big floral. Make a grand gesture! For the Jacob's ladder, I like the cream narrow border and then the last choice--not sure why exactly. But those triangles look great either way! Good luck with the coffee, fingernails and chocolate...

Borders can really change the look of a quilt. My personal decision on a lot of quilts------no borders. I don't really like them I remember once while on a week long retreat, and just exhausted from trying to pick a border, my friend just went into the store, grab a bolt and said----here, use this one. It worked.

I love to see the quilt tops you are working on - they're all so scrappy and wonderful!! I get stuck at the border stage too - really badly stuck. I have a bunch of tops sitting in my closet waiting for borders. Good luck with your decision making :0)

I wouldn't say I struggle with borders but I definitly postpone them a lot. I think I would go with the "loud" border on the Material Obsessions quilt - fits the innerds better. I also like option #2 for the ladder quilt. Would love to hear about the history of the block.

I think we've all been there with the border dilemma! I like #2 for the Jacob's Ladder. For the first quilt, I think your gut feeling that you're reverting to your comfort zone is spot on; the blue really does look great -- but safe when it could be more daring and fun. There's no wrong solution!

For the Material Obsessions quilt, I like the Red inner border with the blue stripes outside of that and either stop at that point or add the dark blue floral print. Wasn't too crazy about the large floral for the outer border. For the next quilt, I like the green inner border then then green to red triangles. That kept the green inner border and the green triangles together, then the red triangles and the red outer border next to each other.Sort of simplified what you were looking at as you got to the edge of the quilt. Beautiful quilt from what I could see. Would love to see more of it!

Not sure about the borders for the red and green quilt. I have trouble making decisions too!

For the other quilt, I would decide what color I want the quilt to be and use it for the border. Since the border color kind of determines what color your quilt is. (at least that's what my Mom taught me!) :-)

About Me

AQS certified Quilt Appraiser and lecturer. For over 25 years I have been collecting quilts and making my interpretation of them. I'll try any type of handwork from applique through red-work to piecing.